BEYOND: Two Souls‘ presentation as an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival is over. But, if you didn’t catch the live stream, it’s okay because Sony has uploaded the brand-new trailer debuted there, online. You can view it at the bottom of this article.
Along with the debut of the aforementioned trailer, the 2-hour screening featured a 35 minute scene from the game and an in-depth live panel Q&A with game writer/director David Cage, star Ellen Page and supporting cast members Kadeem Hardison and Eric Winter – moderated by video game journalist Harold Goldberg. One of the founding fathers of film festivals like Sundance and Tribeca,
Geoff Gilmore, described the event as “a watershed moment in storytelling and media” with the general statement being made that;
Presenting BEYOND: Two Souls at Tribeca Film Festival is a ground-breaking example of the potential in the marriage of gaming and cinema.
We’d love to see the whole proceedings on YouTube one day soon, not only for the 35 minute scene (which we’ll otherwise have to wait for the game’s release on October 8th to experience like normal, patient people), but the Q&A as well. For now, the trailer below will have to tide us over.
Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D Manufacturer: Creative/Sound Blaster Platform: PC Price: $99.95 AUD Available Here
The Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D headphones from Creative are the Low-Mid tier headphones in their latest range. The Soundblaster Tactic Rage 3D headphones are a pair of fully surround sound headphones that connect to your PC through the use of USB or an optional 3.5mm connection.
Once the Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D were first plugged in, Windows installed the default drivers for them without a problem. However, not included with those drivers was the driver suite software, which allows you to reconfigure the headphones to your liking. The default configuration for the Soundblaster Tactic Rage 3D headphones are amazingly useable and even if you never reconfigure them, you’d still have a pretty nifty pair of headphones. However, it is heavily recommend downloading the driver suite to unlock the full capabilities of the device.
This was the first point of disappointment with these headphones. The user has to actually download the driver suite. None were included on a disc with the product. However, most people have the internet these days so this was a near non-issue.
Riding off the back of the first disappointment is the first thing that was really enjoyable about these headphones. Or rather, the driver-suite software anyway. The installer for the suite software immediately detected the computers regional settings and adapted itself to those settings. While leaving your computers regional settings in Japanese can create a minor inconvenience by the program not having any of the language variables written in those languages native styles, a quick Google of the spelling can be helpful.
Once the Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D driver suite software installed, called Sound Blaster Recon (3D), the user is able to configure the settings of the headphones. There are a lot of variables that can be modified with this software.
The Sound Blaster Recon (3D) software allows you to change the functionality of the headphones in some interesting ways. One of these is the ability to edit whether or not the headphones will output audio in different ways. The user is able to choose between a variety of options for their audio output, ranging from 7.1ch right down to stereo sound.
There are also more usual feature like a graphic equaliser, an audio crystallization feature and bass controls. These features of the Sound Blaster Recon (3D) software allow the user to alter the sounds coming out of the headphones. All of these features do as they appear to do, for instance the crystallization makes the audio sound more clear, while the bass controls modify the amount of oomph the bass has.
The Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D comes with a detachable microphone mounting. This allows users to decide whether or not they want to have a microphone attached or not. The microphone itself feels as though it isn’t as sensitive as it should be, requiring it to be placed very close to the mouth for the user to be the most audible.
Interestingly, the Sound Blaster tactic Rage (3D) software allows you to modify how you sound to others whilst you are talking through the microphone. Settings like pitch, frequency and a few others can be modified to the users preference, or to the preference of the audience.
One thing that is pleasant about newer headphones is that they come with diodes within the earpieces to make them light up. In the driver suite, you are able to modify many of the parameters regarding the function of these LED’s. These are your standard things like colours, pulsation values and an interesting option that is rarely seen, the ability to pulsate along with the tune.
The topmost part of the headphone arc may prove to be an issue for some users. The leather-esque bit just under the arc is comfortable most of the time that it is resting on your head. However, after a while it kind of irritates the top of the head with an uncomfortable sensation. If it could be likened to anything, it’d be most like a light itch. However, just rearranging the positioning of the headphones alleviates the discomfort.
Included with the package is both a 3.5mm cable that is male on both ends, so as to fit in female slots on both the headphones and another device, as well as a MiniUSB to USB cable. It should be noted that to modify the functionality of the headphones, you must have them connected to a computer using the MiniUSB-to-USB cable.
I have to admit that as these are mid-low range headphones, I was not expecting them to sound as good as they do. Considering these headphones are primarily designed for gaming, I had to test these under gaming conditions. However, I also tested under a few different audio modes in Blu-Ray movies as well.
One of the games that the Sound Blaster Tactic Rage 3D headphones were first tested on was QuakeLive. The sounds weren’t as grungy and everything sounded a lot cleaner. The positional audio works incredibly well with these headphones
The headphones were tested in a range of other video games, some of which were MMORPGs. They performed pretty well and writing about each of these games would just be echoing the previous section on QuakeLive.
Modern movies tend to come with either a 7.1ch or a 5.1ch audio track. So to test this, we tested the surround sound capabilities of the headphones with a couple of Blu-Ray films. We found that it’s best if you have the headphones settings set in the driver suite software matching the movies output (which only takes a few seconds to do). However, it isn’t too much of an issue if you leave it set to 7.1ch if you’re watching a 5.1ch film.
Watching the films was rather impressive in regards to the audio. It really feels like the movie is taking place around the viewer, which is important when you’re wearing a pair of surround sound headphones. They really need to simulate a physical setup, which they do.
While the Soundblaster Tactic Rage 3D have a couple of issues, the positives far outweigh the negatives for this particular pair of headphones. If you’re in the market for a new pair of gaming headphones and don’t have a massive budget, these perform wonderfully. These are a great bang-for-buck pair of headphones.
Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight, never running from a real fight, she is the delayed Sailor Moon.
That is right Sailor Moon fans, the upcoming reboot of the Sailor Moon anime series has been confirmed as being delayed for the foreseeable future. Fumio Osano the editor of the Sailor Moon manga at Kodansha took to twitter to confirm the anime series had been delayed.
When asked when we will see the anime series go to air, Osano made the vague statement of “Not 2014. Perhaps.” Which could lead one to the assumption that the series will air in Fall 2013, unless it doesn’t and it airs in 2014.
This is of course disappointing news for fans of the classic series. The reboot anime series was originally set to be part of the celebrations of Sailor Moon’s 20th Anniversary. We will be sure to keep you up to date on all developments on this story.
In another example of a successful project being launched through Kickstarter, KING Art Games‘ strategy title Battle Worlds: Kronos is now in the final day to get the funding to move on to Android and iOS platforms. The company is very thankful for all the support that they have received thus far and Creative Director Jan Theysen says, “We’re enormously thankful to all of our campaign backers, who have been incredibly supportive and have really got involved, beyond just financially backing Battle Worlds: Kronos, in helping us to create the game that we have been wanting to make for many years,” and adds, “It has been quite a ride, but it isn’t over yet. Anyone that wants to back our project can help us achieve our next goal of bringing the game to iOS and Android.”
The game is a classic styled real-time strategy title and development originally started six years ago. It was very popular among the testers who worked on it. Funding proved to be difficult at first, so the project was eventually put on hold to focus on various projects such as the title The Book of Unwritten Tales, but was brought it to Kickstarterseveral years later. This choice proved to be a fantastic one as it reached its initial goal of $120, 000 in just seven days, and as funding keeps pouring in from supporters, they are excited at the possibility of their game reaching fruition.
Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol. 2 Developer: Pendulo Studios Publisher: Bulkypix Platform: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch Release Date: April 25th, 2013 Price: $4.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol. 2 is the final part in the legendary Runaway series of point and click games. The game was split into two for iOS due to size limitations.
Story
Runaway: A Twist of Fate starts with Brian Basco accused of the murder of Colonel Kordsmeier. Brian fakes his death to escape the Happy Dale Sanitarium and calls his girlfriend Gina Timmins to help him clear his name. Without spoiling the whole plot, Volume 1 left us after Gina and Gabbo’s daring escape from two assassins. Volume 2 provides a quick refresher of Volume 1’s events for those needing a quick recap of events. The game starts of explaining how Brian Basco actually managed to escape from the Happy Dale and finishes the tale of how Brian and Gina clear Brian’s name and catch the real murderer.
Volume 2 provides a satisfying conclusion to the story. I felt they ended Brian and Gina’s story on a very positive note. The game’s plot ties in nicely with the previous two games. For those who never played the two previous games, Pendulo manages to work in a recap of both games as part of the story. As a person who did not play the first two games, I found the climax of the game to be extremely jarring. A Twist of Fate stays solidly in the realm of reality for the first 3/4 of the game. The sudden jump to Runaway 2’s ending feels like science fiction was suddenly jammed into the plot of the game out of nowhere. None the less, the writing remained extremely tight and witty.
Gameplay
Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol 2 continues with the classic Pendulo Studio layout for point and click adventure games. The character’s current inventory is displayed in a bar on the top of the screen. Items can be dragged around and dropped onto other items in the inventory and hot spots in the scene. The bottom of the screen contain buttons to highlight the hot spots in the scene, receive a hint, and access the options menu. The UI design is an excellent case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.
The difficulty of the puzzles in Runaway: A Twist of Fate Volume 2 manage to strike a good balance. Save for a few parts, the puzzles made logical sense. The nostalgic hint system returns with player’s “calling” the company tip line for advice. The system provided good hints most of the time with a few pieces of advice were simply too vague to be helpful.
The game seemed to be extremely stable for the most part. I only encountered one major crash during Dr. Reset’s reset animation. It was impossible to skip the animation with the fast forward button without causing a crash. Thankfully, the animation is short enough that it was not too annoying.
Visuals
Pendulo Studios continues their trademark visual style in Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol 2. Colours are bold and characters are visually distinct. The scenes are detailed and are excellent to look at. There were a few minor visual glitches where parts of moving characters would be covered up by the background, but they are few and far apart.
Audio
Headphones are highly recommended with Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol. 2. The voice acting is spot on and should not be missed. The sound effects and music is light hearted and help build the game’s humorous atmosphere. I felt the soundtrack in Vol. 2 was actually stronger than the first part of the game, as it ventured into some excellent vocal work.
Overall
Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol. 2 is an excellent conclusion to the Runaway series. As a gamer who has not played the first two games, I found the sudden addition of science fiction elements to the game to feel out of place. Vol. 2 fixes many of the crashes and bugs found in the first half of the game. The audio and visual experience is very polished and the voice acting is spot on. Runaway: A Twist of Fate Vol. 2 is a fine example of high quality adventure gaming on the mobile devices.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Neocore Games has recently debuted a new trailer concerning the ghostly companion in the coming title The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. The ghost’s name is Katarina who is a supernatural spirit that is indebted to the Helsing family. She will aid the current adventurer in different ways and will feel free to add her own two cents to Helsing’s ever-present troubles.
Katarina will be available to the player in three different forms: ranged, spirit, and melee. In these separate forms she will not only appear different but also invoke different abilities and become anything from an effective mage to a ruthless battlerager. Depending on the player’s preference, Katarina can advance her skills in a similar skill tree like Helsing’s. Take a look at the screenshots and trailer below to garner a greater understanding of Helsing’s deathly companion.
The latest from ATLUS, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers, may have just been released for the Nintendo 3DS in North America, but unfortunately fans of the series in Europe were not lucky enough to get the game, yet. It seems that those European fans shouldn’t fret or worry about having to import it, as ATLUS has teamed up with NIS America Europe to ensure it gets released.
Coming to Europe in the Fall, the 3DS version sees additional features not present in the original Sega Saturn and PlayStation version. With an extra 30 demons to defeat or negotiate with and an extra dungeon, fans of the original will find more to do in the updated game. As well as utilizing the bottom screen to map out the dungeon as they go or use a COMP hack to change difficulty and fill out the dungeon without needing to explore it.
While Fall is a little far away to have to wait for Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers, fans can check out Capsule Computers’ own review of the game right now HERE.
In addition to Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner – Soul Hackers, NIS America also has plenty of other games releasing for PS3 and 3DS this year, which can be found with tentative release dates below.
Spanish developer Gato Salvaje is trying to play their hand at point and click adventure gaming with the AR-K series. While they have already made Episode 1 and are currently working on Episode 2, they are hard at work to ensure that the series can provide a solid story for players to enjoy. What better way then to get a great writer like comic author Greg Rucka?
Players may best know Greg Rucka for writing for Action Comics and Detective Comics, for DC characters such as Batman and Superman, as well as for Marvel characters including Wolverine and Punisher. With Greg Rucka set to write Episodes 3 and 4, in addition to voice actress Ash Sroka (Tali of Mass Effect) playing the main character, Gato Salvaje hopes to provide a quality series for fans of point and click adventures.
AR-K is currently in the middle of a Kickstarter to help fund the continuing development of the series, but players can check out Episode 1 for free on the iOS App Store HERE or Mac/PC from their website HERE to give them a taste of what’s to come. Those interested in funding can find the Kickstarter HERE.
Yesterday, the full version of StarDrivewas released on PC through Steam following a truly successful Beta phase.
The title is the result of the combined efforts of US based (Portland, Oregon) developers Zero Sum Games and Netherlands based (Haarlem) publishing outfit Iceberg Interactive. The result of their efforts are rave reviews and according to the development team, promises of an entirely new ‘4X space strategy experience.’
StarDrive creator, project leader and Zero Sum Games CEO Daniel DiCicco said this on the creative process and future direction of the title:
Creating StarDrive has been an incredible journey…The release of StarDrive does not mark the end of development. Rather, it marks a new beginning. StarDrive is a living product and we intend to support and expand this game for many years to come. Have fun!
Steam are offering 10% off on this title until the 3rd of May.
You can check out the Developer Introduction for the game below and follow Zero Sum Gamesand Iceberg Interactive on Twitter for the latest updates on this title.
Two days ago, Hidden Path Entertainment announced to its Kickstarter backers that it had raised the required funds to develop DG2, (Defense Grid 2) thanks to a lone investor.
On July 10th 2012, Hidden Path launched the Kickstarter Campaign as a means of funding the development of new content for their acclaimed tower defense game, Defense Grid – The Awakening. Around the same time, talk of a sequel began to spread and soon afterwards 6,200 backers leapt aboard. Hidden Path was therefore sufficiently geared to release the expansion pack Defense Grid: Containment, which happened in January of this year.
The Bellevue (Washington, US) based development studio is extremely grateful for the support of their doting fans. Hidden Path CEO, Jeff Pobst, shared his thoughts on the project and campaign’s successes:
“Through the [Kickstarter] campaign we…created a shared engagement around the project with thousands of backers for several months. The excitement, involvement, and passion that the community displayed around Defense Grid directly helped us engage an investment partner and make DG2 a reality.”
Hidden Path are strong advocates of communication, listening avidly to the community throughout the development process. Sign up to the forums if you haven’t already for real-time access to the latest community updates. Aside from news, the forum also offers players the chance to post questions to the developers and provide their own user feedback and bug reports.
Release for DG2 has been scheduled for the first half of 2014 for PC. For more information visit the Project area of the Hiddenpath site. In celebration of the upcoming release Defense Grid – The Awakening and selected DLC will be on sale up until the end of the weekend at 75% off through Steam.
